I grew up in the 1960s, a time when television was a big part of everyday life. And like a lot of kids, I spent plenty of time watching it. One of my favorite shows was Bewitched.  While most kids were fascinated by Samantha Stephens—the beautiful housewife who could twitch her nose and make just about anything happen—I was more interested in her husband, Darren. Darren worked in advertising. For some reason, that really caught my attention. I was a creative kid, and the idea of getting paid to come up with ideas, solve problems and create things sounded like a pretty great way to make a living.

 

​As it turns out, I wasn't wrong.

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After college, I landed my first job at Chiat/Day, then one of the world's top advertising agencies. It was an incredible place to start a career. I learned the business from some very talented people and quickly discovered that advertising was every bit as creative, competitive and unpredictable as I'd imagined.

Over the years, I worked at both large and small agencies before eventually taking the biggest leap of all: starting my own. Running an agency gave me the opportunity to work with some terrific brands, particularly in the spirits and beverage world. Along the way, I had the privilege of working with brands including Stoli, Licor 43, Hendrick's Gin, Milagro Tequila and Tullamore D.E.W. That experience gave me a front-row seat to the world of spirits, branding and, of course, cocktails.

 

And somewhere along the way, my professional interest turned into a personal obsession. I started experimenting at home. First it was shrubs and syrups. Then bitters. I loved playing around with botanicals, spices, citrus, herbs and different flavor combinations to see how they could change a cocktail. I'd make a batch, invite friends over, and put them to the test. The response was pretty consistent: people loved them. And then came the question I heard over and over: "Why aren't you selling these?"

 

As a marketer at heart, I couldn't ignore the question. But before jumping into the business, I did what I had spent my career doing—I looked at the marketplace. There were plenty of excellent bitters brands out there. I wasn't interested in simply creating another bottle of bitters and hoping it would stand out. What I saw instead was an opportunity. The home cocktail enthusiast had access to an incredible array of spirits, but when it came to the other ingredients that make a great cocktail, things were more fragmented. Bitters were in one place. Garnishes somewhere else. Cocktail salts somewhere else again. Why not bring them together?

 

That became the idea behind McMann & Tate Cocktail Co.: a one-stop shop for premium cocktail ingredients designed with the home bartender in mind.

In 2024, I launched McMann & Tate with a collection of handcrafted cocktail bitters, dried cocktail garnishes and premium rim salts. Everything we make is designed to help the home bartender create better-looking, better-tasting and more memorable cocktails without making the process complicated.

 

We pay attention to the details because I believe the details are what make a cocktail—and a brand—memorable. From the ingredients we choose to the bottles, labels and packaging, we want every McMann & Tate product to feel special before you even open it.

 

And yes, there's one more piece to the story. Remember Darren from Bewitched? The name of his advertising agency was McMann & Tate.

I always thought it was a pretty great name. Decades later, when I was looking for a name for my own company, I couldn't resist bringing the story full circle.

So McMann & Tate was born—not as an advertising agency, but as a cocktail company inspired by a lifelong love of creativity, spirits and making things that people enjoy.

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Today, we're still a small, independent company, and I still spend plenty of time experimenting with flavors, testing recipes and sharing cocktails with friends.

The difference is that now, when someone asks, "Why aren't you selling these?", I have a much better answer. We are.

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Welcome to McMann & Tate Cocktail Co. 

Gene